Google is bringing Android to PCs with Aluminium

Google would not precisely have a fame for secrecy anymore, a minimum of on the extent of corporations like Apple. It is revealing minor options and merchandise consistently, and has all however given up on protecting new Pixel devices beneath wraps, to the purpose that it does teaser bulletins forward of its press occasions to maintain the rumor mill beneath management. If you are going to get enthusiastic about Google tech, it is in all probability since you’re already onboard with what’s occurring.

There are exceptions to this, as you may think for a enterprise with billions of {dollars} at stake. One of many greatest is its plans to unify Android and ChromeOS, creating a brand new working system for PCs — doubtlessly difficult Home windows and macOS, or a minimum of Apple’s iPad. I went looking the web for what we all know in regards to the new OS, together with how excessive Google’s goals are, and what may occur to Chromebooks as soon as it launches.

The story of Aluminium OS up to now

Breaking out of the ChromeOS area of interest

It is no shock, maybe, that Google has misplaced curiosity in ChromeOS. Whereas Chromebooks proceed to have a spot in colleges and companies, they’ve by no means actually expanded far past that, regardless of being cheaper than Home windows laptops. The issue is twofold — ChromeOS gadgets are sometimes ineffective after they’re offline, and the platform has at all times been area of interest, unable to compete with the pliability and help of its rivals. It was a giant deal when Google first gave it the power to run Android apps.

Early rumors that Google needed to mix Android and ChromeOS first emerged a couple of 12 months in the past. The corporate lastly confirmed these plans in July 2025, disclosing them to TechRadar. It made a proper announcement at Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Summit in September, revealing that it was cooperating with Qualcomm on a platform that splices cellular and desktop computing, with Google’s regular deal with AI. Google’s Senior VP of Gadgets and Providers, Rick Osterloh, made the PC connection express, saying that the 2 corporations had been “constructing collectively a standard technical basis for our merchandise on PCs and desktop computing techniques.”

The codename “Aluminium” not too long ago appeared in a (since-pulled) job itemizing uncovered by Android Authority, with Google seeking to rent a “Senior Product Supervisor, Android, Laptop computer and Tablets.” The selection of the British spelling of aluminum may appear unusual for an American firm — however it’s doubtless a reference to Chromium, the open-source venture that serves as the muse for each ChromeOS and the Chrome browser. The itemizing typically shortens Aluminium to “ALOS.”

The job requires managing a group of ChromeOS and ALOS gadgets in a number of kind elements — “laptops, detachables, tablets, and containers” — in addition to a number of tiers, “Chromebook, Chromebook Plus, AL Entry, AL Mass Premium, and AL Premium.” Collectively, these statements counsel that Google desires to maneuver past the finances laptop computer realm most Chromebooks have been relegated to. There are higher-end Chromebooks, however these are uncommon, and have by no means gained a lot traction.

Not a lot else is understood for positive, however the job itemizing did speak about transitioning “from ChromeOS to Aluminium with enterprise continuity sooner or later,” suggesting that Google desires to part out ChromeOS, however proceed supporting enterprise clients that may’t afford to modify dozens, a whole bunch, and even hundreds of gadgets.

What does this imply for Chromebooks?

Not essentially the top of the street

Loads of unknowns stay, together with what Aluminium’s ultimate title will probably be. The corporate is unlikely to stay with that codename in a ultimate product, and Android Authority claims that Google engineers at the moment are referring to the outdated software program as “ChromeOS Basic” or “non-Aluminium ChromeOS,” which may imply that the ChromeOS branding will survive — simply with very totally different performance. One other chance is that Aluminium will turn into “Android Desktop,” however which may be but extra shorthand, and would isk confusion with Android 16’s Desktop Mode.

No matter it is referred to as, there’s an opportunity that some current Chromebooks may have the ability to improve, as Aluminium is reportedly being examined on modest MediaTek Kompanio 520 and Twelfth-gen Intel Alder Lake processors. They might additionally want to satisfy RAM and storage necessities, nevertheless.

The best barrier may very well be AI. Google has acknowledged that Gemini will probably be integral to Aluminium, which older processors won’t have the ability to deal with effectively or with full performance. Many cellular and desktop processors now have structure particularly designed to speed up AI. I ought to say that Google has been capable of convey a restricted type of the tech to older gadgets like Nest audio system and smart displays, so compatibility may in the end rely on how superior the tech’s new incarnation is meant to be. Merely speaking to Gemini Stay or accessing net content material can be trivial — however on-device processing based mostly on native recordsdata and graphics rendering may lavatory down machines that weren’t constructed to do far more than run net apps.

Can Google problem Home windows and Mac?

The actual goal could also be iPadOS

One other main query is how critical Google is about competing within the PC area. Android is already extra well-liked and widespread than ChromeOS, however the firm faces an uphill battle to persuade those that the platform can ship the identical performance as a Mac or Home windows PC. Certainly Google has struggled to get builders to supply primary pill variations of Android apps, a lot much less software program that may compete with Home windows apps based mostly on high-end CPUs and GPUs. Somebody choosing up an Android PC is perhaps disenchanted if they cannot run the newest Name of Obligation or essentially the most superior model of Adobe Photoshop.

One Android Authority supply claims that Google’s actual purpose is to compete with the iPad. That product continues to manage over 50% of the pill market, in response to Statcounter, and in recent times, Apple has lastly begun warming as much as the concept it wants to supply laptop-like capabilities. The iPad Air and Professional now use the identical M-series chips present in MacBooks. iPadOS 26, in the meantime, sports activities Mac-like multitasking, together with the power to open extra home windows and place them wherever.

Maybe extra crucially, there are sufficient high-quality iPadOS apps that iPads are a staple of many faculties and companies, the market that Chromebooks have historically executed greatest in. If Google can spawn a platform that matches iPads in performance whereas undercutting Apple on worth, it could actually make critical inroads which may finally outcome within the breakout the corporate has at all times needed.

When is Aluminium OS going to launch?

Do not maintain your breath

Google’s official window for the product is someday in 2026. That would, hypothetically, imply an announcement as quickly as January, however given the importance of bringing Android to PCs, the information will in all probability arrive alongside one of many firm’s greater press occasions. One chance is its I/O developer convention in Might, which at all times begins with a prolonged keynote hosted by Google executives. If Google skips that milestone, it may find yourself ready till late summer season or fall, when it makes a giant splash with new Pixel gadgets.

A digital certainty is that the software program will ship in sync with Android 17, which needs to be in beta by Might and completed by the autumn. In that case, the primary Android PCs may hit cabinets in time for the 2026 vacation season, assuming there are no delays. There’s additionally the possibility that Google will merely reveal its plans subsequent 12 months, leaving {hardware} releases for 2027.